Trump has up and “Huffed and Puffed” and told the world, including and especially our allies either submit and bow down before him or he’ll blow all their houses down. It seems his delusions of grandeur caused him to proverbially misread the room. Hell, even Putin and ‘Lil’ Kim aren’t about to go taking orders from Trumpty! When it comes to Trump, we all know Putin gives the orders and who carries them out (or tries to). Donald J. Trump wouldn’t DARE give Putin an order. A lot has changed in the last few days, and the country and the larger world are in for a world-wide storm. However, from where I sit most of the world is letting Trump and the United States know they are tired of putting up with him. And America as the leader of the free world since this country’s voters put first George W. Bush (bad) and then Donald Trump (worse – FAR worse) in the WH.
Trump is throwing punches thinking he’s Ali in his prime. However he’s more like one of those fatass ‘Meal Team Six’ goobers that make me look like the Marine grunt I was decades ago throwing punches that aren’t hard enough to crush a fly. With our allies, they’ve been worried it would come to this. Even back in the first Trump term they started quietly exploring a new framework where the U.S. wouldn’t be there leading things anymore. During the campaign, likely knowing what we voters didn’t and that never once in internal polls by each campaign was Harris able to get ahead of Trump that kind of planning got underway again. Once Trump was declared President-Elect things went into overdrive.
For all that, it was assumed I’m sure by NATO and the EU that there’d be more time. With a little flattery they figured they could manipulate Trump into not changing things too much too fast, and delay what’s he’s done with Ukraine in particular. Still, I am convinced they considered the worst case scenario which last week came to pass – and how to respond. I say that because within hours the messages came out of world capitols that they were standing with Ukraine. With the exception of Orban (of course) NATO countries told Trump to get stuffed. That is NOT the reaction Trump was expecting.
So he pulled the trigger on the huge tariffs on our Canadian and Mexican neighbors as a petulant ‘I’m gonna get you guys for not obeying me’ stunt. Trump has violated the very agreement HE negotiated and signed! NOW he thinks it was a ‘horrible’, ‘terrible’ deal? WTF? Canada was ready. Trumpty announced his tariffs would go into effect at midnight last night and when he didn’t back down Canada imposed its own retaliatory tariffs. I expect Mexico to do the same. Other countries will follow suit I’m sure. I honestly think Trump deluded himself into believing Canada (and others) wouldn’t immediately punch back and punch back hard. Hell, Mexico isn’t just looking at trade. Trump’s got them moving military units up towards the border in case Trumpty gets an even bigger case of ‘the stupids’ and send our own troops into Mexico.
Republicans, American major news outlets and far too many Americans are scared to death of Trump. Is no one paying attention to polling? Trump is underwater again and I saw a story this morning talking about how in reaction to his stunt sucker-punching of Zelenskyy this past Friday Vance is now underwater too. GOP elected officials are catching hell at Town Halls and Party leadership is practically begging them to stop having them. By kissing Trump’s fat orange butt they’ve put themselves in an impossible position. But that’s just on the domestic side. Trump is angry, feeling like a scorned lover that he doesn’t have the highest approval ratings in history. So by golly he’s decided to show Americans we aren’t the only ones who should “Fear the power of the Great Trump.” Nope, he’s gone and told the world that by god HE is god and he demands god-like worship.
From where I sit however most of the free world’s leaders are tired of playing nice and putting up with Trump and dumbass Trumpism. Ok, so they weren’t really ready to create a new free world ruling framework without the U.S. being a key partner. However as I said they considered the possibility their hand would be forced before they were ready to carry on without us. And after that disastrous Oval Office mugging of Ukraine’s President the secure phone lines lit up and there was widespread agreement that NOW is the time.
The time to tell Trump and the United States that while they will welcome our help in protecting freedom and containing Russia and other dictatorships they will figure out how to step up and do it without us. And, more importantly they’ve made it clear the time when the United States could dictate how things would be is OVER. If we behave, and if voters in the U.S. come to their senses we will of course be listened to. But we will never be counted on beyond a given four year period of time. The rest of the world now knows for sure that when it comes to the Unites States every four years all bets are OFF.
As I’ve so often said in the last twenty years American voters have put two morons into the White House. At least Bush 43 had some redeeming qualities. Trump has none. Zero. Zilch. He is delusional and dangerous. He’s also stupid. He’s in way over his head and simply doesn’t have the intellect for the job he holds. OR the ability to pick good people who can cover for him. Hell, he goes out of his way to pick people he believes aren’t up to THEIR jobs!
This evening we’ll witness the annual spectacle of a President delivering what in effect is a State of the Union. Technically it won’t be but it will essentially be just that. It will be watched all over the world, and I have no doubt Trump will bluster and threaten the world that they by god better do what he says. Or else. And for the most part leaders around the world will sigh. However more than a handful will in kind of diplomatic terms tell Trump to go f**k himself.
I say ‘kind of’ because they will be forced to not be as polite as true diplomacy requires to make their point. Remember how everyone but Trump knew James Mattis’ resignation letter as SecDef was a massive send-up to Trump and Trump didn’t get it? He thought Mattis was being oh so grateful for being allowed to serve, and it was only after aides decided they had to clue him in so he’d stop making a fool of himself that Trump learned how massively Mattis had insulted him. So foreign leaders will sometimes have to be more pointed in their “You’re a complete clownish dumbass” responses to Trump moving forward.
I have a feeling long from now, when all of us are dead and buried history will look back on 2025 as a watershed year in world affairs. Things will never again be what they were in the aftermath of WWII. What they will turn out to be I can’t say. But it will be different. And our country will no longer be the leader. As we devolve does anyone think we’ll be able to afford the kind of military we have? Trump won’t think about such things but his fellow Republicans SHOULD have been thinking about that. We will no longer have the economic power we have for so long had either. Without those two things our diplomatic power will be at best average. At best.
Once again I’m an thankful I never had children, heirs who will inherit the world to come. I do however mourn for those who do. What is to come didn’t have to happen. But it’s coming. My hope is that we are seeing pushback, and might be able to mitigate the damage Trump will do. IF we can do that we can at least remain relevant on the world stage, and rebuild a country that’s worth living in.
*************** Please Note This Message From Ursula***************
 Friends, we thank you if you have already donated. If you have not, and are able, we use the donations to pay the overhead until our traffic gets back up to normal again. Everything crashed after November 5, which is why you see people like Joy Reid getting fired and Jim Acosta resigning. We are at war in this country. Truth v. Lies. This blog will always bring you the truth as long as we have internet access and Kash Patel doesn’t carry us off. I have no idea how bizarre things could get. Truly I don’t. But we’re in it together. Ursula
DAMN Denis, I keep *loving* your pieces!!!!
One thing to keep in mind is the vast US national debt.
$US 36 546,789,000,000, and climbing faster than I can type.
That’s $107,355 per citizen. (And rising rapidly.)
Google it, and be horrified.
Gross domestic Product, GDP is $27,720,709 million. So the USA owes more than it’s GDP. By about 25%
Just for example, Australia, National debt, is $906.9 billion. That is about 35% of their GDP.
Australia owes 35% of GDP.
The USA owes 125% of GDP.
Who is stronger?
Who owns the debt?
How easy has it been in the past to increase this debt because the US was a trustworthy debtor that could always be relied on, and furthermore could borrow at pretty much any interest rate it decided?
How likely is this going to be in the future, with erratic, capricious changes in policy and reneging on treaties like the tariff agreement with Canada and Mexico, or the USAid debacle, or the continuing breaches of agreement in Ukraine, or even it’s ability to run it’s own government in a fiscally appropriate manner with no shutdown of government services due to a budget not being agreed to?
Why would you want to continue using the US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency?
And the Trump regime wants to make all this worse?
Do the billionaires know they are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?
“Who owns the debt?” = Who has the right to call for repayment? and also = Who has the right to decide not to lend any more? Either option will be catastrophic for the average Joe: rises in taxes, cleaving of public spending, flight of capital, exit of bi$$ionaires. Thus endeth the US: not with a bang (nuclear) but with a whimper.